Reaching out to IT Professionals with Webcasting

GOOD IDEAS

Reaching Out to IT Professionals with Webcasting The CREN TechTalks target the needs of campus IT professionals by disseminating technology developments quickly and efficiently

By Judith V. Boettcher and Daryl L. Nardick

ne driving force of the infor- Analysis of the Need mation age is — no surprise Obviously, a new approach was O— information. Information About CREN needed. A more formal instructional surrounds and reaches us everywhere. design analyzed the lifestyle of the In a new book, Next: The Future Just CREN is a nonprofit member audience we wanted to reach, the 1 Happened, Michael Lewis noted that organization of more than 220 technologies available to this audi- “it is wildly disruptive to speed up ence, and the costs and suitability of universities, colleges, and research information.” If this is true, the need the available technologies. for information services to help make organizations governed by a 12- The analysis focused on four sense of the information flood is member board of trustees. CREN’s components: greater than ever. mission is to support higher edu- Who is the audience? What knowl- Yet, learning takes time, and time is cation and research organizations edge and skills do they already scarce for most professionals. When with strategic IT knowledge ser- have? and how do professionals stay up-to- What knowledge or skills do they vices and communication tools. In date? What are practical ways for pro- want to acquire? fessionals to incorporate learning into addition to the TechTalks, CREN What technologies can support their work styles? provides a set of services sup- and deliver the learning experi- CREN is a nonprofit organization porting the knowledge of and use ence? Are the members of the audi- that supports IT professionals with of digital certificates, including ence likely to have easy, conve- strategic knowledge services and com- the CREN Institutional Certificate nient and cost-effective access to munications tools. The CREN these technologies? and Web server certificates and TechTalks series of Webcasts, now in its Where, when, and with whom is fifth year, addresses the needs of cam- live seminars . makes an effective experience sur- mation services. Back in 1997, the rounding the content to be CREN board of trustees thought that it learned? was important to provide services to mat. Pilot deployments showed that The answers to these questions disseminate technology developments learning materials in this static for- clarified how we could meet our goal and case studies more quickly and effi- mat simply did not fit most IT profes- of delivering structured and informal ciently to a larger set of information sionals’ learning styles or work styles. learning to a large group of geo- technology campus professionals than These same pilots showed that the graphically dispersed IT profession- in the past. (See the sidebar “About costs of producing the CDs were high, als. The analysis also suggested eval- CREN.”) as were the distribution and support uating an emerging technology that The first attempts at capturing and costs. Finally, the browser technology could deliver timely content to IT disseminating the knowledge of was a moving target, causing the tuto- professionals whatever their loca- higher education IT professionals rials to behave differently — and tion. That emerging technology in were called Virtual Seminars. These often not to behave at all — in spe- 1997 was Webcasting. high-quality, professionally produced cific browser and operating system Selecting Webcasting as the core tutorials used an interactive CD for- environments. delivery technology had the added

Number 4 2001 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 51 benefit of making it easy to incorpo- The TechTalks also share characteris- ble. One of the experts suggested that rate asynchronous elements that tics of radio and television talk shows. the best way of describing these Web would address the professionals’ The question-and-answer e-mail capa- events was like National Public Radio’s diverse learning and work styles. From bility supports spontaneous partici- “CarTalk” for techies in IT. this analysis emerged the 360-degree pant interaction and introduces an multimedia format (see Figure 1) that interesting unpredictability to the Webcasting as a includes a preview announcement, a questions. The Webcast is scheduled at Technology supporting Web site, archived tran- a regular time and place, and the When the first TechTalks began, the scripts in both audio and video format, TechTalk series features a regular tech- technologies to enable Webcasts were and a live TechTalk event with an nology anchor — Howard Strauss from just being developed. In the five years interactive, real-time, question-and- Princeton University. We also have a since, Webcasts have grown to “more answer capability. regular show host to assist in framing than one thousand 24-hour Webcast The TechTalks share characteristics the session. The show host handles broadcast channels.”2 of tried and true formats for learning introductions, provides some give- Webcasting is most simply defined favored by IT professionals. The and-take discussion, and assists in as the delivery of audio and video sig- TechTalks have elements of a live monitoring and posing the incoming nals over the Internet. In her 1998 stand-up seminar in that the fea- questions. The role of the show host is book on Webcasting,3 Miles defined tured expert is articulate, knowledge- often filled by former IT guest experts. Webcasting very broadly, encompass- able, and effective at explaining While the format of the TechTalks is ing broadcasting, videoconferencing, complex ideas clearly and succinctly. still evolving, the goals of the Webcasts and even one-to-one communications. Also, the content isn’t scripted. The are clear. They provide a medium for IT This definition of Webcasting has nar- content, although prepared, remains professionals to tap into the expertise rowed some since then;, Webcasting open to spontaneity and partici- of national professionals who special- now generally refers to the delivery of pants’ questions. Unlike seminars, ize in higher education IT needs and audio or video content to large groups, the TechTalks don’t include a pre- challenges. Better still, they offer a way either locally or globally distributed. pared set of slides. In fact, slides are to do this learning conveniently, eco- Over time, the term Webcasting has generally discouraged, as they are nomically, and with minimal disrup- evolved, now referring primarily to visual rather than auditory. Rather, tion to one’s work schedule. live events. Webcast events are fre- the expert, technology anchor, and The experts in these sessions focus quently archived for availability on host collectively agree on the event’s on core IT concepts, plus technical demand as well. focus, then prepare a pool of inter- trends and issues. Topics are selected The development of streaming tech- view questions used in the dynamic for their strategic importance to the nologies has served as the catalyst for of an informal, but informative, campus infrastructure, and the ques- the proliferation of Webcasts. Stream- interview discussion format. tions focus on the practical and possi- ing technologies solve the problem of the real-time nature of broadcasting audio and video signals. These tech- Figure 1 nologies, such as those available from RealNetworks and Microsoft, convert TechTalk 360-Degree Format: audio or video signals into digital Synchronous and Asynchronous information continuously delivered over the Internet. Streaming technolo- gies use compression-decompression Announcement/ software and hardware (codecs) to con- Newsletter vert and compress analog signals, such as voices, to digital data packets that Event are then streamed out to viewers/par- Post- TechTalk Web ticipants in real time. Event Site Additions Event— The Catalyst Audio Webcasting An audio Webcast involves the fol- lowing production steps in broadcast- ing the audio signal: Print Archive Audio Archive 1. Generate the signal. In the TechTalks series, this is the audio signal of the conversation on the telephone bridge connecting the

52 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 4 2001 technology anchor, the expert, and ties of the Webcast talk show format. the show host. On the day of the Webcast, the pro- 2. Capture a quality analog signal into duction team calls into the conference a sound card. With the TechTalk bridge 15 minutes before Webcast time Webcasts, the audio signal is cap- for a final check that everything will tured from the phone conference be ready to go on schedule. Sometimes using TeleHybrid4 equipment, these 15 minutes are uneventful (that’s which interfaces the telephone to good!); sometimes they are quite fran- the encoding sound card in the PC. tic. Even with all the preparation, we This device ensures a good signal did have to cancel one session at the match between the telephone and last minute due to equipment failure. the sound card. A streaming audio Fortunately, a message posted on the engineer oversees this process. Web site provided almost instant com- 3. Convert the signal to digital with munication about the cancellation, encoding and compression soft- and we rescheduled that session for ware. For the TechTalk Webcasts, the following week. we use RealProducer Plus from RealNetworks.5 This software Supporting Technology encodes the audio input from the Supporting live e-mail communica- sound card into a format that can During the Webcast tion during the Webcasts is straightfor- be sent to a streaming media server, the anchor and the host ward. An e-mail account is set up, and such as RealServer. prior to each Webcast the account 4. Send the digitized data stream to a monitor the e-mail administrator links the account to the streaming media server that then e-mail addresses of the expert, the sends the stream to individual as it comes in. anchor, and the show host. During the users’ computers in real time over Webcast the anchor and the host mon- the Internet. Key personnel for the TechTalk oper- itor the e-mail as it comes in, then Prior to the Webcast, the audio engi- ations include technology anchor evaluate and pose the incoming ques- neer has prepared a file name to be Howard Strauss of Princeton Univer- tions to the expert. associated with the digitized media sity; Webcast Web site producer Terry The Web event page has grown sig- stream. Also prepared ahead of time is Calhoun of the Society for College and nificantly in importance over time — the URL that appears on the Webcast University Planning; the Merit staff, the Webcast site now serves as a mini- event page and that becomes active at particularly audio engineer Jason Rus- portal for the selected topics. It offers a the time of the Webcast. This URL is a sell; and the CREN staff. Merit, the good place to start if an IT professional link to the live stream and will launch contractor for the RealProducer Plus wants a quick look at a technology and the user’s RealMedia Player, which then software, manages the distribution of what others in higher education are begins receiving the RealMedia file. the streaming audio signal during the doing with it. This same file is then archived and Webcasts and also for the archives. available for on-demand Webcasting Technology and Format in Real and MP3 formats after the Content and Guest Preparation The technology seems to be work- event. Selecting and preparing the expert ing reasonably well. The plug-in audio guests for the TechTalks is a critical player is freely available from RealNet- Webcast Operations step in preparing for Webcasts, taking works on the Web, and most IT pro- The TechTalk Webcasts resemble place over a period of two to three fessionals are comfortable with the radio and television news programs. months prior to each Webcast. To pre- technology. Also, the audio signal Webcasts for the general public or a pare for the interview, Strauss, in col- does not demand a lot of bandwidth large audience require producers, writ- laboration with the expert, generates a and thus can accommodate hundreds ers, anchors, guests, and distribution set of questions on the selected topic. of participants. mechanisms. Webcasts also need mar- In the preparation session Strauss, the The experts seem to enjoy the keters, to ensure that word gets out show host, and the expert(s) discuss TechTalk format. They find it less oner- about the program. Webcasts can be the pool of questions with the host ous than preparing a stand-up confer- done quite inexpensively compared to and determine what’s really important ence presentation, and the only travel radio and television, but to ensure pre- and what’s not. This session also involved is to anywhere with a phone dictability, quality, and consistency determines the best strategies for talk- and a computer. The anchor and the requires a team of professionals with ing about the key issues and intro- show host generally require both built-in backups and redundancies. duces the expert to the unique quali- phone access and Internet access.

Number 4 2001 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 53 Lessons Learned audio only. The only technology they represents about 10 percent of the audi- The participants in the early Web- need is a good land phone connec- ence. Obviously, this is a statistic that is casts gave us clear feedback on one tion to dial into the conference virtually impossible to verify, so we issue — predictability. They wanted to bridge. This means that the experts, continue to search for ways to get bet- know well in advance when the Web- the anchor, and the show host can be, ter data while respecting the privacy cast would occur. The TechTalks and most often are, in different cities and anonymity of the participants. moved to a regular day and a regular and occasionally different continents. The Webcasts appear to have stabi- time starting in the fall of 1998: Thurs- Not being able to see each other dur- lized in response to current marketing day afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern ing the Webcast occasionally results efforts at an average of about 140 par- time, every two weeks. in contention for the voice space, but ticipants for the live event. Of course, Something else that didn’t work no more than what most of us experi- averages hide a lot a data. We had well with the initial Webcasts was ence in a lively conversational set- around 400 participants in the Web- having an open telephone line for ting. Most of the experts are accus- cast with Cliff Lynch on “Where Is the anyone to call in at any time. Taking tomed to a high level of spontaneity Digital Library?” on September 28, questions by e-mail provides impor- and just continue. Most of the con- 2000.6 tant control over the timing and per- flicts are edited out or cleaned up in How does an institution get started tinence of the questions. the transcriptions. in Webcasting? The amount of technology and Getting started using Webcasting Cost of the Webcasts bandwidth for good audio is also technology resembles launching Each Webcast costs between $2,200 much less than for video. While par- most technology projects. The best and $7,500 to produce, depending on ticipants like to get a sense of an projects generally start small, with a varying charges and rates. expert’s personality, they can consult a specific need in mind. Many institu- The budgeted costs include charges picture and a bio on the event Web tions are considering Webcasting for for the conference telephone bridge, site. Combined with the expert’s voice, university-wide events, such as presi- encoding engineer’s services, time of the personality comes through. dential chats or graduations, for the show hosts and the experts, Another interesting point in favor of example, or important cultural preparation of the script and the audio-only transmission is that the events. Of course, before any univer- pool of questions, transcription of audio format resembles radio and suits sity-wide event, an institution will the event, development of the the multitasking work style of IT pro- want to practice with smaller, less announcement and the Webcast fessionals. The lower bandwidth important events. event site, and editing and archiving requirements also mean that IT profes- Other useful applications include of the Webcasts. sionals worldwide can participate in delivery of instructional events. The The TechTalks are a community ser- the TechTalks. Questions in one broad- event’s size and purpose will dictate vice for IT professionals and are sup- cast came from Latvia (close to mid- the amount of planning and invest- ported by CREN member institutions night there) and Hawaii (close to noon ment needed for the Webcast. and other sponsors. Some of the pro- locally). Important issues include the time duction work is also contributed by How many IT professionals and effort required to ensure a quality volunteers from the IT community. participate? production, the number of expected First of all, it’s quite difficult to get participants, the availability of the Common Questions good estimates of the number of par- technology for encoding and delivery Three questions come up frequently ticipants. One solid data point is the of the signal over the Internet, and the about the TechTalk Webcasts. In data from the RealAudio server soft- assignment of professionals to become answering them here, we can also ware, which provides an estimate of knowledgeable in the technology. address some common misconceptions. the number of audio streams delivered Contracting with streaming technol- Why only audio? during a Webcast. ogy service providers such as Merit, The suggestion to “go video” is mon- This data only approximates the HorizonLive, or others is also a good itored and reevaluated every year. For number of participants because we way to get started. now, the recommendation continues know that groups will sometimes to be “stay audio,” mainly for reasons gather to listen and pose questions, What’s Next in of cost and convenience. and to jointly discuss a topic. In these Webcasting? The production costs for audio instances a group appears as one IP Webcasting technologies continue Webcasts are significantly less than address. to improve, and the next wave of those for video, as are the distribution Another data point is the number of streaming and compression tech- costs. From the experts’ and hosts’ questions that come in. Over time, nologies will reduce the bandwidth perspectives, also, it’s much more from the data we are able to collect, it necessary for Webcasting. Work also convenient for the Webcasts to be appears that the number of questions continues on technologies such as

54 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 4 2001 multicasting, which enables many Public Radio has started listing Web Acknowledgments Other folks who have contributed to these users to receive the same stream of sites during their programming Webcasts throughout the years include Greg data. These developments ensure that . Marks, one of the original co-designers; Laurel more and varied applications will Erickson, editor; Julia O’Brien of Merit; and emerge. A Continuing Mission Susie Bernais, the transcriber. Acknowledg- Plans are also progressing for contin- If their feedback is an accurate indi- ments also go to the vision of the CREN Board of Trustees for supporting these Webcasts. ued enhancement of the TechTalk 360- cator, IT professionals find the degree Webcast format. Soon we TechTalks format, with the Webcast Endnotes expect to make the audio files available as the central catalyst event, useful 1. M. Lewis, Next: The Future Just Happened in an MP3 format for downloading to and accessible. The editorial mission (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, mobile devices. That capability will let continues to focus on identifying the 2001). people listen to the TechTalks while in strategic, cost-effective technologies 2. P. Miles, Internet World Guide to Webcast- transit or when otherwise away from and paradigms that will support ing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., their computers. delivering mission-critical services 1998), p. vii. Other signs of the future have via an effective infrastructure. 3. Ibid. already appeared with simulcasting. Webcasting as a communication 4. See under Products, Telephone Interface, for Simulcasts combine the passive act of and delivery strategy demonstrates more information about the TeleHy- watching television with active learn- the exciting convergence of the brid product. ing and browsing of Web sites. Users Internet, the Web, audio and video 5. See . may watch the first 15 minutes of a streaming, and the older technolo- 6. Available at . both the Web and the television pro- and telephones. No matter the tech- gram simultaneously. For example, nology, however, content is the key Judith V. Boettcher ([email protected]) is exec- MTV is launching Webcasts that to quality. We invite you to join the utive director of CREN in Washington, D.C. enhance and supplement television TechTalks at Daryl L. Nardick ([email protected]) is a con- events and vice versa, and National and decide for yourself. e sultant specializing in technology and culture.

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